


capital letters

by northofthehouse



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Awkward Flirting, Crushes, Cute, Established Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Na Jaemin Are Best Friends, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is a Little Shit, M/M, Minor Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Multi, Not Cheating, Open Relationships, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27328801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/northofthehouse/pseuds/northofthehouse
Summary: Renjun is new, Jaemin wants to be his friend, and Jeno just wants Jaemin to be happy.AKA: Boys being boys and falling love. It’s not that deep, okay?
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Kudos: 7
Collections: nct title fest 2020





	capital letters

**Author's Note:**

> I loved this title immediately but actually writing the fic was hard. I definitely feel like time got away from me and this isn’t up to my usual standards, but I guess it’s kind of cute? I dunno.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Whoever came up with social distancing rules had clearly never met Lee Donghyuck.

“You’ll survive for a month without your boyfriend, Donghyuck,” Mr. Kim says drily, when Donghyuck complains that he and Mark aren’t in the same classroom pod.

“Saem,” Donghyuck retorts, “I’ve literally had Mark’s spit in my mouth, like, today. If he was going to give me the virus, it would have happened already.”

“God help me,” Mr. Kim pleads under his breath. Mark indignantly squawks Donghyuck’s name as the tips of his ears turn pink.

“Social distancing is not for you,” Mr. Kim tells his students, not for the first time. “It’s for everyone else.”

Jaemin, separated from his boyfriend too but not being nearly as dramatic about it, pokes Donghyuck in the side and whispers at his friend to shut up.

“It’s not like there’s anything we can do about it,” Jaemin reasons. “Jeno told me that Doyoung heard from his brother that the teachers had to have official seating plans and groups already set in stone like two weeks ago.”

Doyoung’s brother is a teacher at the affiliated elementary school and he is a constant source of hot gossip for Doyoung and his friends. Usually, since Doyoung is in college now, he doesn’t care so much about the high school, even though the youngest of his friends still go there. Now though, with everything that’s happening with the coronavirus, Doyoung’s been doing his best to keep his friends up-to-date.

“Yeah,” responds Donghyuck, “but Doyoung told  _ me _ that his brother thought the groups could be changed on the first day of school if the students complained enough.”

“So you’re going to complain,” Jaemin confirms, stating it more like a fact than a question.

Donghyuck nods decisively. “So I’m going to complain.”

Though Mark can usually be relied on to talk his boyfriend out of his more ridiculous ideas, he doesn’t seem to be that concerned about this one. Instead, Mark is staring at Donghyuck with a ridiculously fond expression on his face and nodding along as Donghyuck continues to rant about educational Stockholm Syndrome and sticking it to The Man.

It’s pretty gross, to be honest. Jaemin’s like 87% sure that he and Jeno aren’t this bad.

“No, cause you’re worse,” Mark tells him--since apparently Jaemin’s been thinking out loud again.

“Way worse,” Donghyuck agrees emphatically. “The sexual tension before you two got together was going to kill me.”

“ _ I’m _ going to be the one killing something if you don’t start paying attention, Mr. Lee.”

Needless to say, Donghyuck’s complaints get him nowhere.

“Consider this an opportunity to expand your social circle,” Mr. Kim instructs him. “Renjun is new. I’m sure he’d appreciate a friend.”

The boy in question flushes at being called out like that but remains otherwise silent. This intrigues Jaemin--he doesn’t have a lot of quiet in his life these days. Donghyuck, on the other hand, is unmoved.

“I’m a terrible friend,” he says, shamelessly unapologetic about it. “Jaemin can be nice to the new kid.”

Jaemin immediately corrects him. “His name is Renjun.”

Donghyuck waves a hand. “Sure,” he agrees easily. “Jaemin will be Injunnie’s new bff and I’ll pine over Markie-poo from far away like we’re Romeo and Juliet. It’ll be romantic.”

Nobody can quite tell if he’s being sarcastic or not, so Mr. Kim counts this as a win for now and moves on. 

Once the lesson resumes, Jaemin leans sideways in his seat and whispers to Renjun, “Do you think he knows that they both die at the end? I love him and we’ve been friends since we were in diapers, but sometimes Hyuck’s an idiot.”

Renjun just stares at him blankly.

Donghyuck laughs at famously-liked-by-everyone Na Jaemin’s failed attempts at friendship and kicks Jaemin’s ankle under the table for good measure.

“Obviously I know how it ends,” Donghyuck tells them both. “I’ve seen the movie.”

Jaemin mimes a face palm and internally cheers when he catches a tiny hint of amusement on Renjun’s otherwise expressionless face. He catches Jeno watching the exchange and winks at his boyfriend, happy in the knowledge that he’s still got it.

“We’re totally friends,” he argues to Donghyuck later, when they’re walking home side-by-side with Mark’s arm around Donghyuck’s shoulders and Jeno hand-in-hand with Jaemin.

“Right, sure, totally,” Donghyuck teases.

He perks up, noticing something to the right of them, and the mischievous smile on his face makes Jaemin suddenly very nervous. “Hey, there’s Injunnie! You can ask him right now!”

Jaemin turns, hoping against hope that Donghyuck’s just making fun, but sure enough, Renjun is there. He’s standing on the steps of a house with a “Sold” sign in the yard and a moving truck parked in the driveway.

“Hey, Injunnie,” Donghyuck yells, waving his arms above his head obnoxiously. “Jaemin has a question for you!”

Renjun, to his credit, seems more annoyed than afraid of Donghyuck’s exuberance. To Jaemin’s surprise, he calls back, “What’s he gonna do, ask me out?” Then, to Jaemin: “If you’re that desperate, I’m sure your boyfriend’s interested!”

Donghyuck, Mark, and even Jeno snicker at this, but Jaemin’s mostly just affronted. “Who said I wanted to date you!” he shouts, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting. He was just trying to be friendly, okay!

Renjun, finally, makes his way across the grass to stand in front of them on the sidewalk.

“You weren’t gonna ask me out?” He smirks. Jaemin doesn’t know the other boy enough yet, but he thinks he’s being teased. To Jeno, Renjun says, “Sorry for assuming. He just seemed pretty interested in class today is all.”

Jeno smiles beautifically. In Jaemin’s opinion, Jeno’s smile is one of his best traits. “Jaemin doesn’t belong to me,” he informs Renjun sweetly. “He can date whoever he likes.”

Donghyuck, off to the side but unwilling to be forgotten for long, huffs. “This is not what I thought was going to happen when I called you over here,” he says to Renjun grumpily.

“I know,” Renjun says. “I heard you.” He gestures to Jaemin. “I just wanted to see this one flustered,” he admits. “It seemed like getting a rise out of him would be fun.”

At this, Jeno waggles his eyebrows. “Oh, a  _ rise _ ?”

Mark snorts, almost choking in the process, and Donghyuck rolls his eyes but dutifully pats his boyfriend’s back until Mark stops trying to hack up a lung. Finally, when he can breathe again, Mark says, “I like this one,” and that’s that: Renjun’s in.

Later, in class and whispering, Jaemin asks Renjun why he seemed to shy at school when the first met but was clearly not actually shy at all.

“I had a bit of a reputation at my old school,” Renjun admits sheepishly. “My mom paid me $50 bucks to keep out of trouble on my first day.”

Jaemin is amazed by this. He wishes his parents were that cool and says as much.

“I called someone a petty bitch in second period English yesterday and had to pay it all back, if that helps.” Renjun grimaces. “And she charged me interest.”

Jaemin laughs under his breath. “Not gonna lie,” he says, “That does help me feel a little better.”

Renjun, seated next to him at their four-person cohort table, drops his arm so it hangs in the space between them and carefully reaches out to link their pinkies.

“How about now?” He whispers. “Even better?”

Jaemin glances across the room to Jeno’s classroom pod, and flushes when he sees that Jeno’s been watching them. Jeno smiles and winks, and Jaemin twists his fingers so he and Renjun can hold hands properly.

“Yeah,” Jaemin agrees, his voice soft and his heart pounding. “So much better.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you’re confused, Jaemin’s probably polyamorous (but also he’s young and labels are a social construct anyway), so Jeno’s totally cool with Jaemin and Renjun being into each other!
> 
> I hope you liked it!


End file.
